IAIN Duncan Smith has cast himself as the quiet man of British politics, claiming that the showmanship of his rival is failing the nation's public services.

The Tory leader used a make-or-break conference address yesterday to portray himself as the opposite of Prime Minister Tony Blair, staking his political career and his party's fortunes on their contrasting styles and ability to deliver improved schools and hospitals.

Bringing the party conference season to a close in Bournemouth, Mr Duncan Smith attempted to draw a line under the Tories' two landslide defeats of 1997 and 2001 as he told the rank and file that they had to embrace change.

With a raft of policy proposals for reforming public services unveiled during the week and brought together in a pamphlet published yesterday, he claimed that the conference would come to be defined as the moment when the party began the slow, hard road back to power.

Although the 43-minute speech was generally well received and acknowledged as being a vast improvement on his debut in the leader's role 12 months ago, there were indications that discontent remains among parts of the membership over the calls to modernise that have been a constant under-current to the week, and a source of tension.

There was only muted applause when he praised chairman Theresa May for her opening speech which threw down the gauntlet for members to ensure the party shed its "nasty" image.

The reaction was better when he placed himself at the forefront of the same push, saying, "To those who want to re-fight the battles of the past, and those who want to live in the past, I simply say this: you stay in the past, we are moving on."

But the response was warmest when he spelled out his personal mission for putting the party back on the road to recovery and a position where it can take on Labour at the next general election.

As he set out his own credentials he all but acknowledged that after his first year in office there were still many people who did not know what he stood for.

In a passage that aides said had been scripted to draw attention to how he differed from Mr Blair's style of leadership, Mr Duncan Smith drew rapturous applause and a mini-standing ovation when he ended, "Do not underestimate the determination of a quiet man."

This was immediately followed by what could have been interpreted as a jibe at his immediate predecessor, William Hague, when he added, "I am not here to waste my time or yours going through the motions of opposition for the next three years."

At the end of a conference where he has personally come in for criticism for appearing to neglect Wales and ignoring next year's National Assembly election, he was careful to make sure they got a mention in his speech.

In describing the polls in Wales and Scotland as important for the party at UK level, he also sought to end confusion over policy differences between Westminster and the devolved administrations that have caused some embarrassment, saying, "Our parties there will decide exactly how to translate our principles into Conservative policies. But our direction is clear."

Further seeking to highlight differences between the Tories and New Labour over presentation, he said, "There have been no short cuts, no clever wheezes, just hard work, work that doesn't always grab the headlines but work that has unearthed the real problems that face the people of Britain today."

Monmouth AM David Davies claimed the speech had delivered the goods, saying, "What we've got is what people want, Conservative policies that can be sold on the doorstep. It shows that as well as our principles we've got hard and fast policies."

Asked why the "quiet man" line had gone down so well in the hall, Mr Davies suggested, "What people want is someone who does not see strutting around the world stage as so much of a priority as staying at home and getting the job done, without this obsession with headlines and getting noticed."